Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I tolerate it. It is fun to dress up and get candy. But I am not in to all the scary stuff. I am a glorified chicken!!! I did dress up like Frankenstein one year and tromp through knee deep snow to go trick or treating down the block at the local grocer's house. He immediately recognized me and called me Frankie until I graduated high school. This year we spent some time at the fall festival at our church. It was a wonderful celebration and the kids had a ton of fun! Tonight I spent a couple hours creating a cute little gift for two of Ciara's teachers. I hope they love it!! Happy Halloween to you!!

School Pictures

School pictures came today. Ciara doesn't like this one. She thinks it looks bad because her teeth show. She said a boy made her laugh before she took it and it is all his fault!! I think it is beautiful. She never takes a bad picture. I hope she grows up and sees all that I can see in this picture.

• a beautiful life
• a precious gift
• a promising future
• a light for tomorrow
• hope
• love
• fun
• mercy

I can't imagine what my life would be like without this precious girl. I love her so much.

Not Me Monday

I did not embrace this week by having high expectations of peace and joy and a promise to have a great week. I did not prepare by planning out some meals and deciding that I would take my lunch to school this week. I was not late to school because I was trying to get the foam off a package of frozen rib meat to put in the crock pot in the morning. I did not enjoy those wonderful ribs later in the evening. I did not make a batch of muffins for us to eat for breakfast the next morning. I did not have a wonderful, peaceful day all day long. Nope, not this Monday. Maybe another Monday!!

I have been needing to take pictures of lots of things lately, but lost my camera battery charger. I found one that didn't work and then I ended up buying a new one. I found the old one when I cleaned house yesterday and went to put it with the new one and can't find it. This had led me to conclude that I HAVE TO GET ORGANIZED!!!

This is a bad time of year for me. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I hate the fall and winter. I have worked really hard this year getting plenty of sun and trying to find things to do so I don't get depressed. It has been such a struggle, cause Satan wants me to lay in bed and cry all day. He is such a trickster. I have decided that somehow I am going to find the money to have my teenage friend come over and help me clean and organize a couple of hours each week. She and I together can do more in two or three hours than I can do alone in a year!! She is such a great help. She just naturally knows what to do and takes instruction well, and pretty well knows where my stuff goes by now!! (better than my daughter does, who never puts things up!)

This will give me more time to take and post pictures and create! It should be a wonderful fall!!

Anyway, here are pictures of our kitties. Buttercups is the black one and Smokey is the gray one. They are sweet little kitties. Smokey let's one year olds hold him and pull on his arms and legs and poke his eyes. Even after I make the one year old put him down and he is free to run, he will let the little kid pick him up and do it all over again. He is so sweet natured. He also likes to roam. One weekend, they both had a couple of overnights at the neighbors. We thought they were gone for sure until one of my students told me where they were. We got them back. Then a couple of weeks later Smokey decided to take off on his own. That same student found him and brought him back to us. They have stayed put the last couple of weeks. Ciara was letting them sleep in the laundry room for a while. I woke up every night with cats playing under my bed, sleeping in bed with me, or playing in the hall and waking me up. All that jumping in my bed with me was making my allergies go crazy, so the cats were banned to outside. Even though I am not a cat lover, I love the joy they bring to Ciara.

Thankful Thursday

This week I have so much to be thankful for. I am mostly thankful that God loves me unconditionally when I am such a failure. He created me, He knows the hairs on my head, He knows my failures and my successes, He knows my thoughts-good and bad, and yet he loves me. I have had to cling to that this week. There have been moments when that was all I knew for certain. Sometimes storms come and the only thing we have to hold on to is the fact that God loves us. This has been a week of "bad weather" but God's love, mercy and grace is getting me through. Here are some more things I am thankful for.

1. Sleep - I took a two hour nap today. It was so wonderful and needed.
2. mouse traps that don't show the mouse. Not that we have caught one yet, but it will be so great when we do. I did see another stinking mouse tonight.
3. My daughter. She is so beautiful and she loves me so much. She is such a surprise some days, but even at her worst, I am glad she is with me.
4. My friends-they have held me up and supported me. Wish they would have given me the xanax earlier, but it is so great to know they care.
5. My students. They are fun and so loving. Today one told me that if he won the chicken cup on the game show tomorrow he would give it to me for my coffee. That is so nice. I WANT A CHICKEN CUP!!
6. The little girl who gave Ciara a smell good heart to decorate her locker with.
7. Jessica - she helped me clean my house. Now I have to find some more money so I can get her to come back!!
8. Thankful tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!

That's all I can think of tonight. I am really tired and ready to get some more wonderful sleep.

Good night all,

Not Me Monday

I did not see one of these running across my craft room, which is my favorite place to be.

I did not immediately go and buy these to catch those!

I did not freak out while baiting and setting them either. Nope, I was cool as a cucumber!

I am not scared or freaked out by these!

I did not go pick up my daughter thirty minutes early from gymnastics cause I didn't want to be in a house alone with one of these, either.

I did not go out to eat cause I don't want to cook in a house with one of those.

I did not purposely order more so I would have enough leftovers for my lunch tomorrow so I wouldn't have to come home to eat lunch with one of these.

I did not make my daughter walk with me into the bathroom so I could take a shower because I was afraid to go across the mouse path by myself.

I do not think she is my hero cause she is so brave.

I am not seriously considering bringing my dog to bed with me tonight to protect me!

Nope, not me, I am tough, brave, and all Erin Brochovich about stuff. Not me!!!

Kitten Evangelism

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Check out this post to hear about how getting some new kittens aquainted us with our neighbors and they ended up going to the AWANA program at our church with Ciara. The oldest boy told a friend he had never been to church before. Last night, I found out that a friend led him to Jesus last Wednesday and he prayed to ask Jesus in his heart!!!! Now, if I can find a camera battery before those kittens go on another overnight visit, I will try to get some pictures. Buttercups also got to spend Friday night at my classroom reading stories with my students. They loved reading to her. I might have to take her again, cause they took more AR tests that day than ever! Have a great weekend everyone!!